Are are you wondering what in the world a “pot de creme” is right now? It’s kind of like a thick, fancy pudding when it’s fresh out of the oven, and a little more like the center of the most amazing chocolate truffle you’ve ever had if you decide to chill it and eat it later. Either way, pretty great stuff. I was lured into trying this recipe out when I saw that it used basamic vinegar mixed in with the chocolate and I just had to try it out because it sounded semi-crazy. Well, it turns out that you really don’t taste any vinegar at all. The fruitiness of the balsamic vinegar just really complements the chocolate well and makes for one super-intense chocolatey dessert. All the cream in the recipe doesn’t hurt either!
Here’s the recipe, adapted from Food and Drink magazine:
Ingredients
6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup of sugar
A pinch of salt
1 and 1/2 cups of 35% cream
1/2 cup of milk
5 oz of good bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
Directions
Preheat your oven to 325.
Whisk the egg yolks, 1 tablespoon of the sugar and the salt together in a bowl.
In a pot over medium heat, mix together the cream and milk and the rest of the sugar. Bring it up to just a simmer and then take it off the heat. Add the chocolate in and stir it around to melt it, then add in the vinegar!
Whisking constantly, slowly add the chocolate mixture to the egg yolks until everything is combined nicely.
Pour the mixture into the baking dishes of your choice, cover them all tightly with foil, and place them in a larger baking dish or tin. Fill the larger dish with water so it comes about halfway up the sides of your smaller dishes holding the chocolatey goodness.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the pots de creme are set, but kind of giggle evenly when you bump them. They will probably look like they’re not quite done, but they’ll be fine!
Here’s how they look when they come out of the oven. Don’t you just want to dive right in?
You can either make this recipe in 6 ramekin dishes, or you can do them in three slightly larger containers, like these mini loaf pans I used. The larger size is perfect for sharing after a special Valentine’s day dinner. Or with your daughter while watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls on Netflix, whichever the case may be.
Either way, if chocolate is the name of your game, this is one recipe you’ve got to try out! It’s surprisingly easy for something with such a fancy sounding French name and the results are out-of-this-world tasty, even if you’re still picking at it straight out of the fridge two days later. 🙂
Dress it up with a few berries and some mint leaves, or some whipped cream out of a can, and prepare for people to be thoroughly impressed by you!
For more chocolicious ideas such as 101 Fun, Different, and Tasty Ideas for Things to Dip in Chocolate, check out my Dessert Recipes Page!
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.